Persistence Christmas and Other Stories
by NeoVassal
Summary: A multi-themed collection of oneshots with a Melody/Alexandra twist. 1) Mistletoe, 2) Origin of Sebastian
1. Story 1: Persistence Christmas

"Persistence Christmas"

A Melody/Alexandra drabble inspired by Biesiuss' illustration 'Mistletoe 1' art found on Deviantart. :)

**Note I am basing all the characters' personalities/mannerisms off their original comic book versions because it better suits this story.

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Ever since Josie first knew the Cabots the one time of year she could honestly say she looked forward to spending time with them was on Christmas Eve. Every Christmas Eve at the Cabot mansion, limousines and expensive sports cars were parked all around the lavishly decorated home where crowds of Mr. Cabot's clients, family, and friends gathered inside for the annual party. It was also the one time of year both Alexander and Alexandra appeared to be on their best behaviors.

"Come on, it's tradition!" Alexander begged.

[Well, almost,] Josie thought as she watched Alexander begging a beautiful young brunette girl at the door.

"I don't care if it is, Alexander Cabot!" the girl huffed as she stormed away. "I'm saving my first kiss for someone special!"

Valerie had her hand planted on her forehead, watching the scene in exasperation. "Nothing is traditional about THAT."

She nodded up at the ceiling and almost all at once, Melody, Alan, and Josie looked up. A field of mistletoe was attached to the ceiling. Each year Alexander added more and more mistletoe, and began putting it in random places so he could carry out the kissing under the mistletoe "tradition" almost anytime he felt like it. What had also become a tradition was Mr. Cabot throwing a fit when he saw what his son had done.

Alexander turned his attention to the band. "Hey you're here! Merry Christmas, girls!"

"Fleece navy dad!" Melody exclaimed happily, completely unaware how she messed up the phrase.

Alan smirked and crossed his arms. "When are you going to give up this crazy tradition?"

Alexander scooted uncomfortably close to Valerie. "How about when you girls give me a kiss?"

He leaned in, lips puckered, only to be greeted by Valerie's hand pushing his face back. "Sorry, I suddenly converted to Judaism."

Alexander wasn't deterred. "How about you Josie?"

Josie sighed, not wanting to let her friend down. "Okay…" Alexander leaned over, his lips almost touching Josie's until she pulled back defensively. "On the cheek! On the cheek!"

Alexander seemed satisfied and kissed her on the cheek. Alan crossed his arms but didn't say anything, although his face clearly showed his disagreement with Alexander's tradition. Alexander then turned his attention to Melody who was watching the scene with a warm smile and bright blue eyes.

"Melody…! You'll let me kiss you, right?" Alexander sang with a wolfish grin.

He leaned over with puckered lips. Melody's face grew serious, a rare sight to behold. "No."

Alexander jumped back in surprise as the other friends stared at Melody with equal expressions of surprise. "NO?!"

Melody smiled brightly again. "You're the wrong one."

Alexander was silent for a few moments, mouth hanging open. He lifted his sunglasses off his face, as if he was convinced his glasses were making him see and hear things. "I'm the wrong one?"

Valerie couldn't hold back her laughter anymore. "I think that's a Melody way of letting you down easy!"

Josie and Alan also exploded into laughter. Then, another sound exploded from across the room.

"Alexander, what are you doing?!"

They turned to see Alexandra marching over to them, death in her steely gaze. Luckily for her, the guests were used to seeing the twins fight like cats and dogs. Many would watch the spats for entertainment.

"I'm greeting our guests, dear sister of mine," Alexander explained calmly, putting on hand in his pocket. "I'm gracing them with my presence."

"…Oh brother…" Alan groaned to himself.

Alexandra's face turned red in anger. "Greeting them?! Stephanie just came up to me in tears saying you were trying to force her to kiss you! Do you know who she is?! She's the daughter of Daddy's new client for-!"

"Merry Christmas, Alexandra!" Melody practically screamed, hopping up and down excitedly.

Alexandra stopped in mid-rant and turned to Melody. Josie and Valerie readied themselves to defend Melody from Alexandra's wrath. Alan sucked in a breath, hoping Alexandra wouldn't hurt Melody's feelings too badly.

"…Merry Christmas, Melody," Alexandra said in a surprisingly sweet voice. She turned her attention back to her brother. "Now if you'll excuse me, Melody dear, I'm not done giving my lazy brother a piece of my mind!"

Josie, Valerie, and Alan nearly fell over. They exchanged confused glances before silently coming to an agreement that it must have been Christmas that stayed her wrath. When they turned back to the argument, the twins were nose to nose in the middle of a heated shouting match.

"Oh please! You'll do it too!" Alexander proclaimed.

"Do what?!" Alexandra demanded.

Alexander pointed to the ceiling and then pointed at Alan. "You and Alan are standing under the mistletoe right now!" Alexandra's eyes widened and she looked over at Alan. "Ah ha! That got your attention! Now what do you think about my tradition? Want to start one of your own now, huh?"

Alan looked over at Alexandra's face before gulping. He readied himself for the well-known "she-wolf" (as Josie called her) to make her move. Instead Alexandra looked flustered and looked at the ceiling before glancing at Melody whose expression was unreadable to him.

"T-that's a dumb tradition!" Alexandra finally spat. "Kissing under the mistletoe? What a ding-a-ling idea!"

Alexander seemed hurt. "It's not! It's a beautiful tradition for beautiful people such as myself."

Josie seemed equally hurt. "It's a romantic tradition, Alexandra!" She looked up at Alan sweetly. "Right, Alan?"

Alan grinned bashfully down at her. "Yeah, Josie."

Alexandra snorted. "Please. I bet some peasant who couldn't afford to decorate his house like we can ran outside and gathered some plants and hung them on the ceiling. When everyone laughed at him, he began this kooky 'tradition' to cover up his poverty!"

"Actually the tradition began in-" Valerie began to share her knowledge.

Josie cut her off by holding her shoulder. "Don't bother, Val."

Melody's face was red. "Alexandra Cabot, you don't really mean that, do you?"

Alexandra turned her nose up and put one hand to her hair and the other on her hip. "I do." She looked back at the glares she was getting from her friends. "Oh come on! You all were just making fun of Alexander for making out with everyone and now you're mad at me?"

"I'm not mad," Josie retorted. "I just feel sorry for you."

Alexandra rolled her eyes. "Oh please. Have fun slobbering all over each other. I have to get back to our guests."

With that, Alexandra disappeared back into the crowds. The others waited until she was completely out of sight before turning to each other with puzzled looks.

"I never figured Alexandra Cabot as an anti-romantic," Josie wondered outloud.

Alan agreed. "Yeah… That whole thing was pretty weird. I came out from under the mistletoe untouched!"

Alexander waved his hand dismissively. "Just ignore her; she's the black sheep of the family. All that crazy female understands is lust. However, I, Alexander Cabot III, understand the true complexities of love."

"Hello, Miss Cheryl Blossom!"

Alexander's head turned so fast that it nearly snapped off his neck. "Cheryl Blossom is here?! Get her under the mistletoe!"

Alexander dashed off with his tongue hanging out, leaving a rain of drool in his wake.

Valerie crossed her arms and rolled her eyes with a smirk. "The true complexities of love, huh?"

Alan laughed. "I guess there's wolf blood in this family!"

Josie suddenly noticed Melody was unusually quiet. She turned to check on her friend only to see an empty spot where she once stood. "Hey, where did Melody go?"

Meanwhile, Alexandra found herself alone in the kitchen. Mr. Cabot sent her in to put his glass away before he could drink anymore. Not that he had a problem, but the always careful millionaire didn't want to find himself not sober and making business deals or offending any cliental that was there. She heard the door close behind her.

Ever since they began seeing each other in secret, Alexandra found herself with a weird sixth sense about when her girlfriend was around or was about to appear at her house. It also helped that her girlfriend loved to wear strong, sweet-smelling body mists and lotions.

"Alexandra Sherry Cabot the First!" Melody's sing-song voice always failed to make her sound stern, so she would use everyone's middle names when she wanted to let you know she was serious.

Alexandra smirked and turned calmly to her lover. "That's not my middle name, Melody."

"Well you look like a Sherry," Melody retorted. "So I'm going to remount your middle name!"

Alexandra stepped close to Melody, a feline gleam in her eyes. "Mmm… Can't we wait until everyone's gone until we mount each other?"

Alexandra reached out to take a piece of Melody's hair between her fingers, only to have the blonde take a large step backwards. Melody crossed her arms and glared at Alexandra with a pout on her face.

Alexandra sighed, her huge wolfish smile still on her face. "Still mad?"

"You didn't mean that mistletoe thing, did you?" Melody asked.

Alexandra found herself feeling guilty about upsetting her girlfriend. However, with years of practice she had mastered the art of not letting anything she felt (except for anger) appear on the surface. Alexandra looked away with a now smaller smile and then glanced back at Melody. Melody was still waiting for her to reply, her blue eyes shining with unusual brightness.

"Don't be upset, lover," Alexandra finally said, stepping closer to Melody. "I did mean it though – it's a silly tradition."

Melody looked away. "It is not."

Alexandra rolled her eyes. "Oh look, honey, a little green plant is hanging above us! Oh sweetie how romantic! Let's make out! Mwah mwah mwah mwah…!"

Melody snapped her head back to Alexandra, now visibly blushing and eyes filled with tears. "You're a terrible person, Alexandra Cabot! It's about sharing love! There needs to be more love in this world – and mistletoe helps! It's a happy tradition where even strangers can't help but spread love to people they would never give a second glance at if it wasn't for mistletoe!"

Alexandra was taken aback. For someone who proudly messed up malapropisms, constantly used the wrong words to make her point, and was generally appeared just plain dumb, when Melody spoke about love and kindness, she was the wisest person in the world. Right now, she felt like she was the dum-dum of the relationship.

"I-I'm…" Alexandra mumbled. Ugh, she had to say it. She peeked at Melody who was giving her the 'I'm waiting' look. "…I'm sorry. Okay?"

Melody instantly perked up, the childish gleam returning to her eyes. "Then you'll kiss me under the mistletoe?!"

Alexandra unconsciously looked around. "What? No! We can't."

Melody waved her off. "Oh fish-posh, Alexandra! I know you're shy so I have something here!" She began to reach into her pocket but noticed Alexandra was now watching with interest. "You have to close your eyes!"

Alexandra sighed loudly to express her disinterest in Melody's game but closed her eyes anyway. "Can I open them yet?"

"You just closed them, silly!" Melody laughed.

"You know how impatient I am."

Melody didn't respond to that. She knew. Everyone knew Alexandra Cabot's infamous impatience with everything. She giggled to herself.

Alexandra's patience was wearing thin as her head began to count the seconds. Patience, she reminded herself, good things happen when she tells you to close your eyes. Very good things. A perverted grin briefly appeared on her lips before Melody's voice made it go away.

"Okay! You can open them!"

Alexandra opened her eyes and did a double-take. Melody had a headband around her head with a wire holding up a piece of mistletoe high above her face. Alexandra gawked for a few more seconds before bursting into hysterical laughter.

Melody laughed too, although not as hard and loud as Alexandra. "Now THIS is silly!"

Alexandra finally stopped laughing, wiping away streams of tears from her cheeks. "What sort of contraption is that?!"

"This way we can kiss in private! Or anytime I have you close to me," Melody added with a hint of seduction in her voice.

Alexandra grinned and put one hand on her hip. "Oh really?" She stepped closer to Melody, one foot close to her lover and the other further away to make her hip jut out. "Now it's time to close your eyes."

Melody quickly closed them. "You're the right one for this!"

Alexandra blinked. "What?"

"Nothing!" Melody joyfully sang. "Wait, let me get into position!"

Melody leaned over, put her legs close together, and spread her arms apart behind her like she was going to soar directly into Alexandra. Alexandra wanted to laugh again, but held it back, opting to let a huge, toothy grin spread across her face.

Melody puckered her lips and spoke through them. "Mmokay Immh mremy!"

Alexandra lightly laughed, curling her fingers under Melody's chin. "Okay."

She brought her lips dangerously close to Melody's, letting her hot breath sweep across the pink flesh. "You're persistent."

Her mouth hovered just above Melody's so when she spoke their lips brushed against each other.

With each syllable, Alexandra's lips got closer and closer, sending shivers up Melody's spine.

"I like that."


	2. Story 2: The Cat Who Came Back

**Story 2: "The Cat Who Came Back"**

Summary: A cat has invaded the Cabot mansion, causing chaos in his wake. A young Alexandra is determined to bring it inside and she might need some help from a local blonde girl…

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Years ago, from her enormous bedroom, a fourteen year old Alexandra Cabot glared out her window. Her brother was once again engaging the peasants outside the wall surrounding the Cabot mansion. Alexandra was fond of the wall because it separated her from the riff-raff of their boring little town of Midvale. She watched her brother show off one of his sports cars to a group of three girls who looked about their age. She had seen these girls come by the mansion often, and Alexandra had to wonder how her brother met them considering they were both home schooled. She pushed away her long bangs covering her left eye and continued to watch out the window, folding her arms under her chest.

Two of the girls had guitar cases strapped to their backs as they inspected the shiny red vehicle. Alexandra felt a twinge of jealousy in her heart – she had always wanted to play the guitar, but Mr. Cabot insisted playing rock and roll was not what a "Cabot woman" did with her time. She bit the inside of her cheek and once again became overwhelmingly jealous of the freedom her brother had – he had so few expectations to live up to. And even with the few expectations he had as a "Cabot man," Alexander didn't live up to any of them.

As she felt steam coming out of her ears, she noticed one of the girls was staring up at her. She was a tall, blonde girl who somehow was already blessed with a very curvy figure. The girl stepped closer to the mansion while her friends let Alexander show them the engine of his car. Alexandra suddenly felt her heart race – was she looking at her? She found herself frozen in place, both hoping the girl could see her and terrified of the possibility as well. The girl walked right up under her window, craning her neck to look up two levels at Alexandra. A big smile spread across her face and she waved happily. Alexandra began to uncross a hand to wave back, but suddenly realized she, Alexandra Cabot, would be waving at a peasant girl, and quickly snapped her window shade closed. She moved away from the window, heart racing.

"W-what was I thinking?! A true Cabot doesn't mingle with peasants!" Alexandra declared, finding herself out of breath. She paused and glanced back towards her window, hearing laughter echo below. "Still…"

Still, she wished she had a friend.

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"ACK! GET BACK YOU HORRIBLE CREATURE!"

Alexandra looked up from lounging by the poolside, lifting her sunglasses off her face. Several crashing noises and other shouts came from the side of the mansion where the garden was. She stood up out of her pool chair and put on a robe to cover her bikini clad body as more commotion was heard. As she began to hurry to the side, Mr. Cabot came out from the poolside exit, hurrying over to catch-up with his daughter.

"What is all that commotion?!" he demanded, stomping a little bit ahead of her stride.

"Don't ask me, Daddy. A squirrel in the garden, perhaps?" Alexandra replied, trying to sound as disinterested as possible.

"GET HIM! GET HIIIIIMMM!" the voice of the lead housemaid, Darla, screeched.

Alexandra and Mr. Cabot rounded a corner to see three servants running about in the garden. Darla had a broom, the gardener had a hoe, and a male servant had a shovel. Chunks of dirt and various plants flew up in the air from the servants running and swinging their chosen weapons through the garden.

"What is going on here?!" Mr. Cabot fumed.

Alexandra, in an attempt to look as cool as possible to remind her servants of her superiority, put one hand on her hip and another to her hair with her eyes closed. The servants froze in their place at Mr. Cabot's hollering, putting down their tools.

"M-Mr. Cabot!" Darla stuttered.

Mr. Cabot ran his hands through his hair, staring at the mess in shock and confusion. "What happened? What is going on here?"

"It was a furry little demon! Snickering at me!" Darla cried out hysterically. "It was eating the flowers and-THERE IT IS!"

She pointed frantically behind Alexandra. Alexandra and Mr. Cabot turned at the same time to see a mangy-looking black and white cat staring at them with piercing blue eyes. Alexandra felt her heart skip happily – she had a fondness for cats. Mr. Cabot, however, reacted differently.

"GET OUT! GET OUT, YOU ALLEY CAT!" he hollered. "GET THE DOGS!"

Alexandra dashed over and held his arm. "No, Daddy! He's just a kitty-cat!"

Mr. Cabot looked down at her. "He's destroying your mother's garden!"

"I think it was the servants who did that, Daddy," Alexandra corrected. "Let me get him…"

Mr. Cabot breathed through his nose and rubbed his eyes. "Fine, fine… I just want that cat to leave the garden alone. I'll even let you bring him in as a pet."

[Well that was easy,] Alexandra thought. But she knew despite his explosive temper, Mr. Cabot was pretty easy-going and let his children do things that would make them happy.

She began to creep towards the cat who continued to stare at them. "Here kitty-cat, darling. Come to Alexandra."

As she got closer, the cat suddenly made a u-turn and scampered away into the expansive yard. Alexandra watched disappointedly as the cat's small figure disappeared into the distant brush.

"Aw, too bad, Miss Cabot," Darla said. "He's a stray, he is. He won't trust us so easily."

Alexandra crossed her arms, masking her hurt. "Humph! Dumb cat!"

Mr. Cabot sighed and then pointed at Alexandra. "Alexandra – you and the servants are on cat duty. I want that cat tamed or I want that cat off my property. Do you hear me?"

Alexandra turned to her father. "Of course, Daddy."

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"It's raining…"

The youngest housemaid turned to Alexandra who was staring out the poolside door window intensely. A lone plate of expensive fish was sitting under the overhead, protected from the downpour. The young housemaid, Felicia, sighed and presumed Alexandra didn't hear what she had said. But after another moment of silence, Alexandra looked up at her.

"Where do strays go in the rain and in the snow?" she asked.

Felicia scratched her head of short brown hair. "Well, I guess they find somewhere to go. Animals seem to have a knack for finding places to stay dry."

"He's got a huge mansion right here! And look at my lap, darling!" Alexandra suddenly burst out in a mini temper tantrum, something else she inherited from her father besides for the white streak of hair on her head. She turned to Felicia and motioned to her thighs. "Who wouldn't want to curl up in Alexandra Cabot's lap?!"

Felicia wanted to laugh, but held it back knowing, in her own way, Alexandra was being completely serious. "Miss Cabot, stray animals don't have the same thought processes as we do. They see a bunch of humans in a big house and they think – that's scary."

Alexandra huffed. "Well if _I_ was a cat, _I _would think differently." She turned back to look out the glass door and nearly fell over. The cat was back, casually licking his paw as he sat by the now empty plate. "He ate it! Look Felicia, he ate it!"

Felicia and Alexandra pressed their noses against the glass, watching the cat. Felicia turned to Alexandra and whispered in a low voice, "We'll lure him in. I'll get some more fish and you open the door."

Alexandra nodded in agreement and Felicia crept off to get another plate of fish. Alexandra slowly opened the sliding door, making the cat look up from washing his paw. His tail twitched as he stared at her. Felicia returned with another plate of cut up fish and squatted to the ground, holding it out towards the cat.

"Look, kitty-cat, Alexandra provides!" Alexandra proudly declared. "Come inside with me and you'll eat this every day."

The cat hunched down and slowly crept towards the food, blue eyes darting from the plate, to Alexandra, and then to Felicia. Alexandra slowly hunched down next to Felicia and waited. Suddenly, the cat opened its mouth and ate all the fish on the plate in one bite before dashing away into the yard. Alexandra and Felicia stared at the empty plate for a few moments before what had happened registered in their minds.

Alexandra stood up, face red in anger. "YOU DUMB CAT!" She ran out into the yard after the long-gone cat, ignoring Felicia calling after her. "YOU MOOCH! YOU PIG! GET BACK HERE!"

Alexandra stood in the rain, staring out into the yard and breathing heavily. She turned on her heel and stormed back inside the mansion, face still red and fists clenched by her side. Felicia quickly stepped aside to let Alexandra march past her. The maid could've sworn she saw steam coming off of her head.

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For the next several days, Alexandra's efforts to get the cat to come inside became more sneaky and straight-forward. She would set up elaborate traps, only to have the cat cleverly avoid them or lead her right into them. And if the cat didn't ruin her traps, they would fail spectacularly when Alexandra triggered them. The normally vain Alexandra continued to try to catch the cat despite all the cuts and bruises she was getting when her plans blew up in her face. Almost every day, Alexander brought back the same three girls from before making Alexandra put her cat search on hold until they left. The blonde girl always looked up at her window or searched other windows, making Alexandra hide from her sight.

"What is that blonde peasant's problem, anyway?" Alexandra found herself grumbling as she sat on the stone bench by the garden. "Is she some sort of stalker?"

"Meow!" came an all too familiar cat cry from beside her.

Alexandra fell off the bench in surprise when she saw the cat watching her from on top of the shed. "You!" She got up and ran over to the shed, looking for a way to climb up it. "Just you wait, I'll get you!"

The cat snickered and watched gleefully as Alexandra attempted to climb up the side, only to fall down on her backside. She growled and stood up, face red in humiliation as the cat snickered again.

"What are you a cat or a hyena?! Hold still while I find a rock to clobber you with, you dumb feline!" Alexandra fumed.

The cat casually licked his paw as Alexandra stumbled over to the garden and leaned over to search for a rock. She cursed her mother's green thumb when she realized there wasn't even a pebble to be seen.

"And that butt is my sister, Alexandra!" Alexander's voice came from behind her.

Alexandra whirled around to see Alexander and the three girls staring at her only a few steps away. Completely taken off guard, Alexandra straightened her tight red dress and quickly fixed her hair, and then put one hand on her hip in a failed attempt to look cool and collected.

"Mingling with peasants again, brother dear?" she asked coldly.

"They're the salt of the Earth, darling sister," Alexander replied, slinging his arms around the red-headed girl and the African-American girl.

The African-American girl calmly plucked Alexander's hand off her shoulder and then removed his arm from her friend's shoulder. "What's _that _suppose to mean?"

"Yeah, we're not salt – we're girls!" the blonde one chimed in.

Alexander laughed stuffily. "Ho ho ho… See, Alexandra? It's fun hanging around the common folk. You should try it."

Alexandra rolled her eyes and turned back to searching the garden. "Avoid him, ladies, you might be the salt of the Earth, but he's the pig of Midvale."

The red head giggled and stepped forward, extending her hand. "I'm Josie – and that's Valerie and that's Melody."

Alexandra glanced at the warmly extended hand before turning back to the garden. "Charmed, I'm sure. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm looking for something."

Josie slowly and awkwardly put her hand back to her side. Valerie saw her friend's uncomfortable expression and glared at the millionairess' backside. "What did you lose? A diamond ring? Or your personality?"

Alexandra grinned to herself. Oh, she liked her.

"That's not very nice, Valerie!" Melody scolded. "You have to wear shoes for a mile before you realize they're someone else's!"

Valerie blinked at the horrible mangling of the common expression. "Uh…sorry?"

Josie decided to change the subject. "What are you looking for? Maybe we can help!"

"Ah, don't bother with her!" Alexander interrupted. "Come on, girls, let's go inside and talk about your music!"

Alexandra bit her lip angrily. Alexander knew she had always wanted to be a rock star since they were kids – she was sure this was his way of rubbing it in her face. She looked up at the shed to see the cat now gone. With a swift motion she stood up and paced around the shed, looking for any sign of where he went. The others watched in confusion.

"Now look what you did!" Alexandra fumed at Alexander, marching over to him with her finger extended. "He's gone!"

"Who's gone?" Josie asked.

Alexandra froze and put down her finger, stepping away from the curious looks she was getting from the group. "Uh…ah…no one…it's…"

"Was there someone here, Sis?" Alexander asked, squinting at his sister's suddenly nervous and vulnerable expression.

Alexandra looked away. She was caught. Peeking at the others' expressions revealed they were not going to leave her alone until she told them. "It was…it was… …It was a CAT, okay?! I've been chasing that furry bag of fleas for DAYS now!"

Melody let out a loud gasp, making the others jump. "A PUSSYCAT?!"

Alexandra ran her hand through her bangs, letting the white streaked bangs fall back over her eye. "Yeah! He's been avoiding _me_, Alexandra Cabot! I mean, look at our home!" She turned and with both arms motioned to their enormous mansion. "Who, I ask, would NOT want to live here and be coddled for the rest of their nine lives?! Who?!"

"That does sound pretty good to me," Valerie agreed.

"Then why won't he come inside?!" Alexandra continued to fume.

Alexander burst out into laughter. "YOU? YOU'RE chasing after an alley cat?!" He pointed to the various bandages on her body. "No wonder you're all cut up! It looks like that cat is getting the best of you!"

He continued to laugh until Melody punched his shoulder. "Don't call him an alley cat! He's a stray cat who needs a home! And your sister is trying to give him one!"

Alexander rubbed his offended shoulder as Alexandra laughed. "Oww! How dare you?!"

Josie stepped in between Melody and Alexander. "Now, now, Melody… We're guests here, remember? How about this – let's all look for the cat together!"

Valerie perked up. "Hey, that's not a bad idea! I can try out this new invention I've been working on…"

"NO! AB-SO-LUTELY NOT!" Alexander exploded.

"Who died and made you king?!" Alexandra barked, although she wasn't sure why she was defending the others.

Alexander wagged his finger in the air. "I invited the girls over for a very specific reason, and I'm not going to let my business be ruined by a stray cat!" He turned to the girls. "Now if you girls go with my sister, you will never be invited back to the mansion AND you can forget about getting any help with your garage band from the Cabots!"

Josie winced. "W-well I guess we did come here to talk about our music…"

Valerie sighed loudly, clearly annoyed. "I would rather look for the cat, but I GUESS we did get invited over for business."

Alexander crossed his arms and nodded. "I'm glad you see it my way. Except…" He pointed at Melody who was clearly as annoyed as Valerie was. "YOU'RE banned from today's tour and discussion!"

Melody turned her nose in the air and looked away. "Fine, I would rather look for the cat with your sister, anyway." She strode over to Alexandra, purposely bumping into Alexander's shoulder as she passed him. Alexandra opened her mouth to protest, but froze when the blonde wrapped her arm around hers and stood defiantly next to her. "Come on, Alexandra, let's go."

"Uh, hold on you two, I have to talk with Alexandra first," Josie said. "We'll meet you inside, Alexander."

Alexandra walked over to Josie and Valerie who were looking at each other like they knew something Alexandra didn't. "What's wrong, girls?"

"Um… I just wanted to warn you about Melody…" Josie whispered, glancing at Melody who stood alone at the garden, staring absently into the sky. Alexandra followed her gaze and let Josie continue. "She's uh…she's…"

Josie turned to Valerie with pleading eyes, lost for a polite word to describe Melody. Valerie continued for Josie. "She's…well…she's Melody."

Alexandra blinked at them in confusion. "What does that mean?"

"Oh…you'll find out," Valerie chuckled, patting her shoulder. "You will find out."

She began to walk towards the front door with Josie who turned back to Alexandra and pleaded, "Just…try to be nice to her, okay?"

Alexandra humphed and went back to Melody's side. "Okay…Melody. The last time I saw him, he was on the roof of that shed." She pointed to the shed and Melody followed where she was pointing. "He was sitting up there like a dope, _snickering_ at me. Then when I turned around, he must've snuck off."

Melody put a finger to her chin and began to walk around the shed in circles, staring at the ground. Alexandra watched in a mix of confusion and fascination as the girl circled the shed several times. Eventually, Alexandra's patience wore thin.

"What are you-?" Alexandra asked.

Melody stopped, still staring at the ground, and put up a hand. "Ssh!" She stood still with her hand up for a few moments before turning around and circling the shed the opposite way. "I'm invigorating."

Alexandra sighed loudly, "What's that suppose to mean? Are you just-?"

"He went that way!" Melody suddenly proclaimed, pointing towards the back of the mansion.

Alexandra looked where she was pointing, amazed. "How do you know?"

"I just saw him," Melody answered with a giggle.

Alexandra groaned and dashed off. "Come on, you dum-dum!"

"Okay!" Melody sang and ran after Alexandra.

They rounded the corner to see the cat sitting by an old-looking tree. Alexandra turned to Melody and put her finger on her lips in a 'keep quiet' signal. Melody didn't understand the meaning of it.

"HERE MR. PUSSYCAT!" Melody sang, running towards the cat.

Alexandra slapped her own forehead with her hand and ran off after the blonde. "Melody! No!"

The cat scampered off behind the tree. Melody stopped and peeked around the tree, then up it, and then looked around in confusion. Alexandra finally caught up with her, finding it extraordinarily difficult to run in high heels on the grass.

"Where did he go?" Alexandra panted.

Melody looked at her, befuddled, "I don't know! He was here just a minute ago!"

Alexandra crossed her arms and looked away. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed an opening at the very bottom of the tree. She squatted down, got on her knees, and then reached into the tree. Melody watched with interest as Alexandra felt around inside.

"I don't feel anything inside," Alexandra reported. "And this tree isn't hollow either."

Melody knocked on the tree and put her ear against it. "You're right! I don't hear an echo!"

Alexandra groaned and stood up, brushing off her silky dress. "This isn't a cartoon or some sort of comic book, Melody, there wouldn't be an echo. Come on, maybe he went this way."

They walked in silence before Melody spoke up. "I really like your hair, Alexandra. Do you dye it?"

"No, it's genetic," Alexandra grunted, not in the mood for small talk.

"Well I think it's really neat!" Melody sang.

Alexandra glanced back at Melody; no one had ever complimented her hair before. At her father's parties and other occasions where all the rich people of the area got together, the children would tease her about it…until the day she punched Jason Blossom in the solar plexus. They left her alone after that.

"It looks like something though," Melody continued, walking in front of Alexandra, finger on her cheek.

Alexandra scoffed and walked around her. "A skunk's stripe, right?"

Melody followed Alexandra. "No, well, maybe…" Alexandra rolled her eyes harshly. "But there's something else about it…something really cool."

Alexandra waved her hand at her. "Look, forget about my hair and look for the cAAAAYEEEEEKKKKKKKKK!"

Suddenly, Alexandra fell through the ground and plummeted below. Melody peered down after her worriedly. "Alexandra?! Are you okay?!"

Alexandra groaned as a soft rain of dirt and grass fell onto her. She was lying face down on a concrete ground in the darkness. "I'm okay…but my pride isn't."

"…Which body part is the 'pride' again?" Melody's voice asked.

Alexandra pushed herself up, groaning at both the pain and Melody's lack of knowledge about the human body…or anything, for that matter. "Nevermind, darling, just go and get help…or at least a rope to…" Alexandra was cut-off by Melody's butt landing directly onto her spine. "OOF!"

Melody looked down at her happily. "Don't worry, Alexandra, I'm here to help!"

Alexandra groaned and planted her face onto the ground. "Swell."

Melody looked around from her seat on Alexandra's back. "Wow… My science class was completely wrong about what the Earth looks like underground!"

Alexandra moaned and looked back up. "It's probably one of the mansion's old underground tunnels. Many generations of Cabots lived on this piece of property, so there are places even we don't know about."

Melody stood up, much to Alexandra's relief, and looked around. Alexandra slowly got up, cracking her back into place. She looked around too, seeing nothing but darkness.

"Where's the light switch?" Melody asked, and then giggled.

Alexandra felt around the walls until she found a torch. She tried to pull it out, only to find it stuck. She put one foot against the wall and tugged harder, only to have the torch tilt over with a long, loud creaking noise. Alexandra fell backwards and landed, once again, on the ground. Suddenly, the entire hallway lit up to reveal enormous portraits decorating the walls on both sides. The long hallway was full of spider webs, dirt, and other things to indicate no one had been down there in a very long time. An old, dirty royal red carpet draped a pathway down the hall to another hallway leading to the right.

"Wow!" Melody breathed.

Alexandra looked around in admiration too and got back up to join Melody's side. "I wonder why this place was cut off from the rest of the underground tunnels?"

Melody skipped ahead and began inspecting the portraits. "Your ant-sitters looked kind of flat, Alexandra!"

Alexandra smiled and rolled her eyes. "These are paintings, darling. And it's 'ancestors.' Come on, we need to find a way out of here."

Alexandra walked ahead, glancing nervously at the enormous portraits of the Cabot ancestors peering at her from both sides. She half-expected the eyes to move with her. She approached a portrait of an older woman with a long, crooked nose. Her beady eyes glared at Alexandra, her skin so pale it almost looked green.

"Alexandra…!"

Alexandra walked on faster, putting her eyes to the ground. Now her imagination was getting the best of her, she could've sworn she had heard an older woman's voice from above calling her.

"Ugh, look at my dress," She said while looking down at her now torn and dirty dress, trying to get her mind off the creepiness of the place. "It's completely ruined." She stopped and looked around, realizing Melody was not following her. "M-Melody…?"

"EEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKK!" came a sing-song shriek of terror from down the hall.

Alexandra whirled around and began running as fast as her high heels allowed back towards Melody's voice. "MELODY?!"

She skidded to a halt when she saw the blonde staring up at a portrait. Alexandra balled her fists and checked around Melody, ready to fight whatever caused her to scream like that. "What is it?! Who's there?! What happened?!"

Melody pointed up at the portrait. "It's him!"

Alexandra looked up at the enormous portrait. A crazy-eyed man was front and center in the portrait, his face covered in a matted, black beard and a very prominent white streak of hair on his head. On his fingers he wore various expensive and large rings. In the background, it looked like he was sitting in some sort of laboratory, only a small window near the ceiling on the wall. Alexandra followed one of his hands to see it resting on a cat gazing out from the portrait with enormous, scary-looking blue eyes. She did a double take, realizing the cat in the portrait looked exactly like the cat she had been chasing.

"I-is that the same cat?" Alexandra wondered nervously.

Melody looked at her, terror in her bright blue eyes. "Maybe we've been chasing a ghost!"

Alexandra's heart skipped and she leaned back, face twisting nervously. "D-d-don't be silly, Melody! There's no such thing as g-g-ghosts!"

"Mrrrroooow!"

Alexandra and Melody jumped and screamed at the same time, whirling around to see the cat staring at them from the middle of the hallway.

"G-go away, ghost! O-or we'll call the Ghostbusters on you!" Melody warned, hiding behind Alexandra.

The cat snickered and walked off down the opposite end of the hallway. Alexandra took Melody's hand and tugged her along. "Come on, Melody! Ghost or not, maybe he knows the way out!"

Melody let Alexandra drag her, suddenly becoming a little bit braver as she looked down at Alexandra's hand. She looked back up to see Alexandra looking ahead nervously, eyes darting to and fro at the portraits. "Do you think he's been living down here?"

Alexandra briefly glanced over at her before looking back ahead. "It would explain how he manages to disappear all the time…besides the fact that he might be a ghost."

"That ant-sitter's name was Sebastian Cabot. Maybe your family knows something about him and his cat?" Melody suggested.

Alexandra bit her lip. "Maybe…"

They followed the pitter-patter of the cat's feet until they reached a door with a hole on one of its side which the cat slipped through. Alexandra hesitated before she pushed open the door. On the other side was a more familiar tunnel which she knew. The servants used it to go back and forth to the wine cellar.

"I know where I'm going now, come on," Alexandra said.

She led Melody back to the surface where they ended up on the side of the house. In the new light, Alexandra realized what a dirty mess they both were. She tried to brush her arms off, only to streak blood across them. She blinked and looked to see her elbow had been cut in her fall.

"Oh! You're bleeding!" Melody gasped.

Alexandra held the wound, wanting to salvage some of her dignity she had lost during her fall. "It's nothing."

Melody pulled out a red ribbon from her jean pocket. "I thought about putting my hair up today, but I changed my mind. Here."

She wrapped the red ribbon around Alexandra's elbow. Alexandra felt her heart flutter but masked it with a calm face. Once Melody was done, Alexandra flexed her arm. "Well, it's not exactly sanitary but it'll do for now. …Thanks."

Melody smiled warmly, still very close to Alexandra. "Oh, and you can keep it too! I got plenty at home!"

Alexandra tried not to smile, but failed miserably. "Thank you, Melody dear." She sighed and looked around, not seeing the cat anywhere. "Well…I've lost him again."

"It's okay! We can look for him again tomorrow!" Melody cheered.

Alexandra looked at her in surprise. "You…want to come back?"

Melody looked puzzled. "Well, of course! We're friends now, aren't we?"

Alexandra's face turned red and she looked away nervously.

"Oh! I finally figured it out!" Melody chimed.

Alexandra blinked. "What?"

Melody smiled and reached up, pushing Alexandra's bangs away from her eye. "If you cut your hair into bangs, your white streak would look like a lightning bolt! Just like on ant-sitter Sebastian's head!"

Alexandra touched her hair unconsciously. "Cut my hair?"

"Yeah! Into short bangs and let the rest grow out! It would look really cool!" Melody explained with a nod. "Plus you'll be able to see out of your left eye." A small, teasing smile spread across her lips. "…And let you see any more dangerous spots in the ground."

Alexandra put back her hair and straightened it out, brushing some loose grass and dirt out of it. "Peripheral vision _and_ a cool new hair style? I like your thinking, darling."

Suddenly, Darla's shriek pierced the air a few feet away from them. Melody and Alexandra jumped back from each other and turned to see Darla, Mr. Cabot, Josie, Valerie, and Alexander staring at them in surprise.

"What happened to you girls?!" Mr. Cabot asked, putting a hand to his head.

"I told you, Mr. Cabot, I saw them both fall into the yard!" Darla sobbed, running over to check Alexandra for any wounds. "I was so scared! I kept calling them and calling them…!"

Josie rushed over to Melody and tried to brush off her clothes in vain. "You fell into the ground?!"

"Yup!" Melody sang, far too cheerfully. "It was fun!"

Josie's jaw dropped open. "Fun?"

Valerie laughed. "Only Melody would think something like that is fun!"

"We found another tunnel with a bunch of creepy portraits in it," Alexandra explained, looking at her father. "One ancestor was named Sebastian and in the portrait, he had a cat that looked just like the one I've been chasing!"

Mr. Cabot's face grew dark. "That's a forbidden hallway, Alexandra. Those are the portraits of Cabots who did terrible deeds in their lives."

Alexander gulped. "Even more terrible than our terrible deeds?"

Mr. Cabot nodded and Alexander looked like he was going to faint. "But I wonder how that cat got in there."

"He fell into a tree like Alice in Wonderland!" Melody explained.

Mr. Cabot looked at Melody and then looked at Alexandra. "You'll have to show me the tree later. We already found the hole you both fell in."

"Oh, I didn't fall! I jumped in after her!" Melody explained happily.

"My spine thanks you," Alexandra groaned, holding her still aching back.

"Your spine is welcome!" Melody said, Alexandra's sarcasm flying over her head.

Darla pulled out a handkerchief, "Oh, poor darlings, let me clean you up a bit."

Alexandra and the others watched in terror and disgust as Darla began licking a spot on the cloth over and over. Spitting on it, and then licking it again. Alexandra began to back away as Melody continued to watch Darla slather her spit onto the cloth, lips pursed into an "O" shape. Alexander shivered at the memories of Darla cleaning him and his sister off with her infamous spit baths.

Darla reached out and grabbed Alexandra's arm, holding her still. "Hold still, Miss Cabot. Let me wash your face."

"You know…" Alexandra whimpered, moving her head away from the cloth. "A…a shower would work just as well…"

"Mrrroooowwwww!"

Suddenly, the cat leapt up, attached himself to Alexandra's face, and bravely took the spit wiping for her. Darla pulled back in surprise and shrieked. The cat looked at its now wet back and made a noise of disgust. He unattached himself from Alexandra's face and dropped into her ready arms.

"It's a cat!" Josie exclaimed in surprise.

"Ghost cat!" Melody yelped.

"I don't think he's a ghost," Alexandra said, scratching the now purring cat's chin. "He feels pretty solid to me."

Melody put her finger to her mouth. "Oh." She watched the cat for another moment before yelping again, "Zombie cat!"

Valerie sighed loudly, "No, Melody! It's just a cat!" She petted the cat's head. "See?"

The cat meowed in agreement.

"Finally!" Mr. Cabot proclaimed, throwing his hands up in relief. "Now I can stop worrying about your mother's garden and get on with my life!" He looked Melody and Alexandra up and down. "And you can give yourselves and that dirty cat a bath!"

When Mr. Cabot turned away, the cat stuck his tongue out at him.

"That's actually a good idea," Alexander said, holding his nose. "You two smell like old, dead things. And you got spider webs all over yourselves."

Josie crossed her arms with a smirk. "Is Melody allowed inside your mansion now? Considering she is part of the band you want to manage…"

Alexander growled, "Fine. But stay out of my private bathroom!"

Melody turned her nose up at him. "I wouldn't want to go in there anyway."

Valerie shook her head. "Oh boy."

Alexandra walked past everyone, eyes closed proudly as she cradled her new pet. "Come, Melody. You can use my private bathroom."

Melody happily followed her. "Golly! Imagine that!"

Josie and Valerie followed them inside as well.

"Well, what are you going to name him?" Josie asked.

"Sebastian," Alexandra said, a bit wickedly. "He looks like the cat in Sebastian Cabot's portrait. I think it suits his evil nature, anyway."

Sebastian snickered and grinned, remembering all the chaos and misery he had caused for his new master over the past several days.

Josie and Valerie waited in the living room as Alexandra led Melody upstairs. "So…what do you play in the band?"

"The drums," Melody replied.

Somehow, Alexandra thought that instrument suited her. "Anyone else in the band?"

Melody perked up. "Oh! Our helper, Alan M.! I think you would like him."

Alexandra scoffed. "With a nerdy name like Alan M.? Somehow, darling, I doubt that."


End file.
